* Press release…

SEIU Healthcare Illinois child care and home care members will ramp up a series of statewide actions with a three-city tour starting November 28 as 45,000 care workers continue to bargain with the Pritzker Administration for a new contract. At speakouts in Alton, Peoria and Carbondale, allies, families who need care, and workers will echo what workers are calling for at the bargaining table with the Pritzker Administration: living wages and a pathway to retirement for child and home care workers across Illinois.

The three-city tour is part of an escalating statewide “Good Care Job Sprint,” where care workers who provide care through state-run programs are raising their voices to highlight the need for a strong contract to address the mounting care worker crisis. Over the last two weeks, workers rallied in Springfield and Rockford to highlight how the care crisis impacts families all over the state. Earlier this month, care workers kicked off their campaign with a major march and rally in front of the Springfield State Capitol building. Workers have also made a major investment in radio ads throughout Illinois to encourage the Pritzker administration to invest in workers.

At the upcoming events, child care and home care workers and consumers will gather to tell their stories, raise demands and fight to “make care jobs, good jobs.” The assembled workers will focus attention on the families in each region who are struggling to access the essential child and home care services needed due to Illinois’ care workforce crisis.

* The spot…

Script…

It’s nine o’clock at night and people all over Illinois are doing their nightly rituals: Brushing teeth, reading a bedtime story, helping grandpa take his medicine, making sure everyone is cared for.

But for 45,000 child care and home care workers across our state, the clock never stops. Every day, they’re also making sure everyone else’s families get the care they need. Now it’s our turn to care for them too.

Under Governor Pritzker’s leadership, Illinois is on the way to being the best state in the country for families to receive the care they need at all stages of their lives. It’s time to secure wage increases and a pathway to retirement for 45,000 workers. It’s time to care for the people who care for us. Paid for by SEIU healthcare Illinois, SEIUHCILIN.org, which is responsible for the content of this advertising.